A sweet aroma wafted through the cracked door, coaxing me out of bed. I hastily dressed myself  and rushed downstairs where the scent was originating from. Turning the corner I saw my mother waiting happily in the kitchen. On the table before her rested a freshly baked fruit pie, steam still dancing atop the crust.

Excitement surged within me, and my eyes widened.

“Happy Ninth Birthday, Sennin!” she cheered, revealing a rectangular item wrapped in cloth from behind her back.

I practically leaped into my chair as she placed it in front of me. With a soft smile, she watched as I unraveled the twine bow. The cloth slid away, revealing a book.

Elementary Principles of Mana and it’s Manipulation

It was a rather sizable book, nearly half that of myself. It was weathered and the cover was nearly crumbling. The edges were starting to fray making the title hard to discern and the author impossible to identify. Nevertheless, I could not have been more ecstatic. 

I looked up with a wide smile “Thank you! I love it.”.

“I'm glad” she spoke in a soft voice “Though, I must apologize for it’s poor condition” her smile began to falter. 

Though we lead happy and full lives, like everyone else in our village we were dirt poor. Securing enough of the basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing could sometimes be difficult as it was, so things seen as more trivial like books were near impossible to come by. Most of what exists is to fill a specific purpose, like plant identification for medicine. I realized pretty early on that I was fortunate to even have the children's books I did. As far as I know, I may be one of only a few families that does. 

But even knowing that, I could not help from desiring to have more of them. I must have read the ones I have hundreds of times by now, and before that I would ask for my mother to read them to me again and again until she would refuse.

So something like this, “It’s a treasure” I replied to her confidently

“You're very sweet, Sennin,” she said, looking down at the book. “It would typically be unthinkable to give a child your age something like this, but, well, you're not typical.” 

“Magic…” I uttered in disbelief.

 My mother had told me stories about magic growing up, and some of my books had stories of powerful warriors who used it against armies and monsters. But to have a book like this in front of me. My mind was racing with excitement. 

How did you even get it?!” I spoke, still not breaking my eyes away from the title

“It is not just a gift from me…” She placed her hand on my head before moving it down, resting it on top of the book.

With a more serious tone, she continued, “Sennin, I need you to listen closely and to promise me something.”

I looked up at her, thrown off by her sudden change. It wasn't just her tone; her face had also become stern. “You are not to speak of this book or magic to anyone outside of our home.”

“Why not?” I asked softly. “Is there something bad about it?”

“No,” she answered, shaking her head. She crouched down to be face to face with me. “You are such a smart boy, Sennin, and in time, I know you will only grow brighter. One day, a time will come where you will understand. But for now, please, just trust in what I ask of you.”

I slowly nodded, my body slightly jittery. “Yes, mother, I understand.”

She nodded with a small smile. “Good. Now let's have some pie for breakfast, shall we?”

Eagerly agreeing, I waited in my seat as she served us each a slice. The warm, buttery texture of the dough mixed with the caramelized sugars of the fruit washed away any stress I might have had. This was true ecstasy

As I neared the end of my slice, a sudden flurry of poundings against our front door interrupted my bliss.

“I’m sorry, but could you please get that?” my mother asked with a small smirk.

With a slight groan, I slinked out of my chair and made my way to the door. As I pulled back the wooden slab, a small group of four children rushed into view.

Lirael, the daughter of the town's blacksmith, a small and scrawny girl with pasty white skin, brown eyes and auburn hair. Her face and hands always had a hint of soot from where she worked alongside her father in his forge making all kinds of equipment for the village. Despite her small stature she was fierce and dedicated.

Silviana Mercia, she was more on the lengthy side, with olive-colored skin, long messy black hair, and piercing ice colored eyes. Beside her stood her brother, Eldrin Mercia. He was a little older than the rest of us, with short, scruffy black hair and a heavily freckled face like his sister and mother. He used to be around all the time and do everything with us, but recently he had started his training and was too preoccupied. Their father was the village's troop commander, a spearman, if I remembered correctly. He no doubt planned to groom Eldrin to take his palace one day.

Lastly, there was Finn, a small frail looking kid with blonde hair and brown eyes. A little more on the shy and quiet side but by no means a wallflower. He lived with his grandma, the village apothecary, and would often spend time gathering different herbs she needed even when he was out. His knowledge of medicine was beyond impressive as was his memory of every botanical on the island.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” they cheered in unison.